Canada's Royal Saskatchewan Museum has been monitoring wildlife activities around the city center of Regina to see how species are adapting to urban development, and the results are reassuring.
The effort is part of the Regina Urban Wildlife Project, which was launched in 2021 in collaboration with nearby Regina University, as West Central Online explained.
"The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is not only an amazing museum, it is a centre for excellence when it comes to research," said Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross. "This is such a wonderful example of the innovative research taking place behind the scenes at the museum."
Over the past three years, 28 biodiversity monitoring stations have been installed, including motion-triggered trail cameras for large mammals and automated microphones to record bird songs and bat calls.
The stations are evenly distributed across the city and adjacent natural spaces that are outside of its boundaries. Unsurprisingly, some of the local wildlife hotspots are in conservation areas, local parks, and an old golf course.
"Urban centres like Regina can provide valuable habitat for the conservation and management of wildlife," RSM curator of vertebrate zoology Dr. Ryan Fisher said in a press release.
"This research helps us understand how different levels of urban development influence wildlife. So far, we detected 143 different bird species and 15 mammal species."
Urbanization has impacted local wildlife in many areas, leading to habitat destruction and fragmentation. As human activity has expanded, respective increases in invasive species, urban heat islands, and pollution are challenging local animal populations.
However, the Regina Urban Wildlife Project has shown a glimmer of hope, even for a busy urban center. The expansion of green areas, even small ones, can improve mental health for residents while helping fragmented habitats across a city interconnect.
"Initial observations indicate no real impact from urbanization on the number of mammal species that we are seeing," said Fisher. "This is likely because a lot of the mammals we observed around Regina are fairly well-adapted. Even in very urban areas such as the Regina Cemetery on 4th Avenue, we observed both deer and red fox."
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Definitely 🥰 Other projects, such as wildlife crossings, have become essential for safety where animal life and humans intersect. The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates there are 1,000 of these specifically tailored transits across the United States to help protect animals from car accidents as they migrate each year.
As The Earth & I observed, studies have shown that these crossings can help reduce collisions by up to 90%, increasing safety for all involved.
"Regina supports a diverse wildlife community, especially in areas around Wascana Lake and Wascana Creek, but also in the various treed neighbourhoods, parks and green spaces in the city," Fisher concluded.
"We will continue monitoring these same sites every few years to understand how wildlife is changing as Regina grows and expands."
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